Masako Yamaguchi

Bio

Masako Yamaguchi was a koto player from the Kansai region of Japan. She was trained in the Ikuta style of koto playing, her principal teachers being Miyako Kyakuden, Kinrei Shizuki, and Soyo Nakamura, and was herself for decades an important koto teacher in Toronto. She also received her BA in English Literature from Kansai University in Japan.

Yamaguchi gave many public performances in the Toronto area, travelling as well to Ottawa and Montreal, and was instrumental in bringing shakuhachi player Tani Senzan and koto player Tanaka Yoko from Japan to do several concerts in Canada. These collaborations led to two recordings, Evening Snow and Zen Spirit, which became very popular in the broader community around the world. She also recorded the New Age World Music album Pangaea with Stephen Bacchus and Japanese Canadian flute player Ron Korb, among others.